Your Guide to Anything and Everything Boston

US stocks aren't the only things going for cheap lately. Apparently, the soft economy is also affecting lobster pricing - and it's lower now than ever. Curse my bad luck - my doctor just told me I have high cholesterol - so I should probably be cutting down on the seafood.

Over the past six months, the price local lobstermen are earning for their catch has plummeted -- dropping from about $6 a pound in the spring to less than $3 now. At the same time, the cost of diesel and bait has surged.

Eddie Hook, owner of the Boston-based wholesaler James Hook & Co., said he can't remember the industry facing such dire straits. He's now selling lobster -- at the downtown location that burned down this year -- for $5.99 a pound, down from $7.99 a pound a few weeks ago.